Gen Z chooses convenience over healthy meals

They want to eat healthily, but time gets in the way. Young people aged 16 to 27 say that a busy schedule often pushes them toward convenience. Research commissioned by HAK shows that, despite good intentions, they rarely prepare a healthy meal.

Less time to cook

Seven out of ten young adults don’t cook every day. Only a third prepare their own lunch, and even fewer — thirty percent — cook dinner daily. Time pressure is the main culprit.

Regular mealtimes are fading. Breakfast, lunch, dinner — they’re no longer a given. Many young people eat whenever hunger strikes, preferring smaller portions spread throughout the day. And when they do get hungry? What matters most is that a meal is filling (71%) and quick to make. Half of them also find it important that food is easy to take along.

Healthy is fine, but it has to be fast

The intention is there. Half of the respondents say they want to eat healthily. Three out of five feel better when they live a healthy lifestyle. But convenience outweighs intention. Sixty percent say they would eat more healthily if it were just a bit easier.

When time runs short, nutritional value drops down the list of priorities. Fifty-four percent admit it matters less on busy days. That’s when frozen pizza wins over a fresh meal. Instant noodles, takeaway, delivery — problem solved in minutes. A quarter of Gen Z order food every week, and one in ten do so several times a week.

HAK invests in healthy convenience

HAK commissioned the study to help young people eat more vegetables and legumes. “We see that life is getting busier and that young people eat less at fixed times, but whenever it suits them,” says Kyra Zonderop, Marketing Manager at HAK. “The downside is that this leads to choosing less nutritious options more often.”

According to Zonderop, innovation is essential to combine convenience with nutrition. “We know that the Dutch consistently eat too few vegetables and legumes, and that consumption is even slightly declining,” she says. That’s why HAK focuses on products that are quick to prepare yet still nutritious. The new Easy Eats meals are a good example of that approach.

Hak.nl